NEA staff goes on strike against the NEA. The Representative Assembly is canceled after one day.
It’s not exactly convenient for rank-and-file delegates to attend a National Education Association national convention, also known as the Representative Assembly.
Hotel rooms must be booked. Transportation to Philadelphia must be arranged. It is an inconvenience for families who must do without their family member over the Independence Day holiday.
This year was even worse because one day in to the meeting NEA leaders had to cancel the entire show because their staff union called a strike after they have been unable to get NEA management to reach a bargaining agreement.
President Biden, who had planned to speak at the meeting, canceled rather than cross a picket line.
Delegates will now be called on to vote by mail on issues without active participation or debate.
It’s pretty sucky situation and a bad look for the nation’s largest labor union.
Here is the NEASO statement:
If NEA management won’t show us what union values look like, NEASO will show them.
We do not take this decision lightly. It breaks our hearts to have to take this action during the Representative Assembly. We support NEA members and believe in the powerful work that takes place at the RA. NEASO members have been working for months to prepare for the arrival of NEA’s members.
However, NEA management has forced our hand with repeated Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) violations and showing they would rather cancel a multi-million-dollar convention than comply with labor law. NEA defines a ULP as violating collective bargaining law, requiring unions and employers to bargain in good faith.
Members of the media with questions regarding NEASO’s ULP strike should email NEASOunion@gmail.com.
NEASO filed two ULPs over NEA’s failure to comply with basic union requirements, such as bargaining over unilateral changes. The NLRB filing accuses NEA of wage theft and failure to provide information requested by the staff union on outsourcing more than $50 million to contractors.